Sheinbaum responds to Marco Rubio: “We take him at his word, we await the conditions for a dialogue at the highest level”
Collaboration and respect for Mexican sovereignty. These were the two key concepts in Claudia Sheinbaum’s response to Marco Rubio’s statements about the crisis of violence, the proposal to designate the cartels as terrorist groups and the possibility of undertaking new negotiations to deepen cooperation in Security. The Mexican president isolated the questions from the next head of US diplomacy and extended her hand to collaborate. “We take her at her word and we hope that when the conditions are met we can have high-level dialogues for collaboration and coordination,” said the president in La Mañanera this Thursday. Amid the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Sheinbaum insisted that “there will be a good relationship” with his Government, although she said that she is prepared for other scenarios. “There have been very good moments of collaboration with the United States, among them the relationship between President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and President Trump’s first term, which was respectful of our sovereignty,” he assured.
Sheinbaum avoided giving importance to the proposal to name the cartels as terrorist groups and prioritized the offer of collaboration “as partners” that Rubio launched in his confirmation hearing in the Senate, before assuming office as Secretary of State. “It is good news in the sense that as soon as President Trump arrives and takes office with his team there will be room for this high-level coordination,” the president highlighted. “We will always seek, as Marco Rubio said, collaboration and coordination,” he said in direct reference to the Cuban-American politician, the first Latino to lead the diplomatic reins of the United States.
Mexico insists on an approach of shared responsibilities to face the main challenges of the bilateral relationship, as well as the need to respect its sovereignty as a country and desist from threatening with unilateral measures. “There will be an agreement with the United States,” he stated, while ensuring that there will be support and a protection strategy for the Mexican community in the United States. “In case other conditions arise, we have also been preparing,” he added a few days before the Republican magnate’s inauguration, scheduled for January 20.
Aside from the latest tensions in Security, the president touched on practically all the open fronts in the relationship with Washington before the arrival of Trump. Always cautious, he pointed out that the country has its doors open to receive undocumented Mexicans who decide to return, so as not to expose themselves to the threat of raids, mass deportations and criminalization by the US authorities. “We already have a very elaborate plan, we are just going to wait for what President Trump is going to announce to be able to report it and we have been in coordination with the governors, the governors, all the Government ministries to be able to give them all the support they require. our countrymen and women,” said Sheinbaum, regarding the immigration issue. “We are a supportive Government that will help them,” he added.
“This economic integration that exists between Mexico, the United States and Canada, with respect for our sovereignties, is what we want to continue,” he said about the trade relationship, under siege due to the announcement of the imposition of tariffs. Sheinbaum stuck out Plan Mexico, the package of measures he presented this week with the aim of attracting hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments and substituting imports from China to calm Trump’s geopolitical concerns.
“This strength that the trade agreement has given us to North America, we want it to expand to the entire continent, that would make us the most important region in the entire world,” said the president. The economic plan is a message to the next president of the United States of the importance of keeping Mexico in his directory of allies and that there are mutual benefits of safeguarding the Latin American country’s position as its main trading partner. It remains to be seen if the Republican is receptive.
Sheinbaum also addressed the criticism he has received for not attending Trump’s inauguration ceremony. He insisted that the United States protocols do not contemplate the presence of foreign dignitaries and downplayed the invitations that the incoming president made to some of his ideological allies, such as the Salvadoran Nayib Bukele or the Argentine Javier Milei. “Why doesn’t the president go to the inauguration, nothing happens, we are neighbors, we have 3,000 kilometers of border and there will be dialogue and coordination, above all,” he stated.
He also said that the opposition sectors that welcome the intervention of foreign governments to undermine the Mexican authorities are “traitors to the country.” “Not only is there economic solidity in the model that was implemented as of December 2018, not only do people live better, there is less poverty, less inequality, but we have a project and closeness to the people,” he mentioned in defense of his project. political.
The president also spoke about the legal process against Ismael May Zambada, founder and historical leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and reports that he is exploring pleading guilty to avoid a trial in the United States. “These are decisions made by the person who is accused,” he declared so as not to fall into controversy. Sheinbaum commented, however, that Mexico will maintain its demand that Washington clarify the circumstances of its capture last July, an issue that weighed on the relationship with the Joe Biden Administration. “We are also going to request it from President Trump because it is something that they have to clarify,” he concluded and said that he is only waiting for the inauguration to take place before sending the formal request.
